25 former NPA rebels get P250,000 cash aid

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – The Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental turned over P250,000 cash assistance to 25 former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) last Tuesday.

The implementation of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through the local government, intends to provide immediate support to the families displaced by the local armed conflict.

Through this intervention, the former rebels received P10,000 each as capital to start a small business to sustain their daily needs while their Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) benefits are being processed.

Aside from the cash aid, they also received hygiene kits, family kits, and sleeping and kitchen kits.

Colonel Orlando Edralin, commander of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde), lauded the former rebels for making the right decision in returning to the folds of the law.

In a statement, Edralin said that the financial assistance is just one of the many future endeavors of the local government for the rebel returnees.

He thanked the local government for supporting the whole-of-nation approach to reduce and eradicate the insurgency in central Negros.